Clean Power
Clean sources of power such as wind, solar thermal, solar PV, biomass, ocean energy produce far, far less pollution when generating electricity compared to dirty fossil fuels such as oil, gas or coal.
Fossil fuels cause air pollution, the release of chemicals and particulates into the atmosphere. Air pollution can cause many adverse health problems such as respiratory disease and can even cause death. Exposure to air pollution contributes to the development of cardiovascular diseases (heart disease and stroke).
An assessment of air quality by the European Commission in 2005 revealed that, air pollution is prematurely killing 310,000 Europeans annually and costing EU countries 80 billion euro a year in sick leave (Irish Times, 23 Feb. 2005 Environment Editor) In the same article, air pollution is now considered to be responsible for reducing the life expectancy of Europeans by an average of almost nine months.